‘Then,’ the fire grew, crackling wildly behind her, ‘let us begin.’

Esadora turned her face to the moon, lifting her hands, and the coven followed suit. Sapphire could have sworn the moon darkened as they did so.

‘Ryvinika, we call on thee to show the way of the world. Do you accept our humble plea?’

Sapphire looked to the moon, half expecting it to fall from the sky, but it remained and the silence around her was suffocating. But then, she heard it.

The voice. Clearer than usual, like whoever it belonged to was sitting beside her.

Tell them I accept, child.

Sapphire stiffened. Ashes had been right, it was Ryvinika who spoke to her. Esadora smiled, nodding her head.

Why me?

She asked the question in her head, and a tickle of laughter ran up her spine.

Speak for me.

‘She accepts.’ Sapphire’s voice was tight with anxiety. ‘I-I can hear her.’

A humming spread through the circle as their eyes remained on her.

Sapphire shivered despite the fire, and the coven dropped their hands.

‘The world was once different. A world where people like us were not cast out but celebrated, feared, and exalted.’

It was then that the fire surrounded Sapphire, dancing around her feet, lapping at her skin, but it did not burn her. She opened her mouth to scream, but her voice was stolen.

She blinked as the flames came to life, painting a picture so vivid she felt ill. The rolling hills of Eriobis appeared, and images of people crowded the frame. Some manipulated air, others fire, water, and earth, and then there was one whose magic came to life in a very different way.

A Shadow Witch.

‘But our people grew powerful. More powerful than any manipulator.’ The flames shifted, revealing a woman twisting her hands wildly. An explosion occurred and the flame shifted again, revealing her and a large creature.

‘Creatures born of shadows, spells born of magic this world had not known before, and Ryvinika was the best of them all. The magic that ran through her veins was pure. But her power frightened the high bloods.’

As it should have, the voice cooed. I would have swallowed the world whole if they allowed it.

The flames danced aside to reveal a gruesome scene. A battle in the darkness, unexpected and bloody.

‘It was in the night that the manipulators attacked the coven. As we slept peacefully, they appeared, drowning, burning, destroying the souls that existed inside the coven. But Ryvinika was stronger, and she called upon her power to awaken the coven and defend our home.’

The shadow creatures came to life, destroying all enemies who stood before them. Sapphire flinched as bodies fell lifeless.

‘And so, the war waged on, the witches led by Ryvinika. But before long, after countless, bloody frays, she feared they could not carry the weight of losing another precious soul. So she surrendered.’